Valentine’s Day, and any other ‘romantic’ occasion used to give me flutters in my stomach – and not the good kind writes Cape {town} Etc’s Micayla Vellai. The pressure of red and white staring bold and bright in front of your eyes, chocolates and flowers around every corner and of course, the numerous texts: “I hope you get spoiled tonight”.
Over time, I’ve learnt to embrace not feeling guilty for treating Valentine’s Day like any other day, for wearing a black outfit with pride (not because I’m against the celebration, but because I actually just like wearing the colour black).
Being adorned with expensive jewellery and fancy chocolates certainly doesn’t pique my interest, and expectations is a word I try to keep out of my vocabulary. Cue someone walking in with a bunch of red roses to surprise their partner. Do I wish that was me? Not in the slightest.
People usually pin this down to being lazy, or ‘anti-Valentine’s’ or even lacking creativity – the theories are endless. But what it actually comes down to is just learning to embrace our differences.
Some people have their reservations about celebrating this day, and with good reason. Break-ups, past experiences, not having a special someone to share the day with. On the other hand, others believe that you should express that same love and affection every single day. And then you get those who adore the day, and go all out to make this a moment to remember.
So whether you’re setting out your red and white outfit for the day of love, or prefer to treat this as ‘yet another day’ – embrace those differences, it’s what makes us unique.
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Picture: Unsplash
